Job: Family Support Partner at UMFS – Richmond

Family Support Partner

Richmond, Virginia Petersburg, Virginia

UMFS and Systems of Care is seeking PRN Family Support Partners to work with families of children with behavioral or mental health issues. Must be a biological or adoptive parent of a child with behavioral or mental health issues.

SUMMARY

Using personal past experiences, provide peer support to parents/caregivers served in the program by assisting them with successful engagement, advocacy, and connection to formal and informal resources helping them to understand and navigate services and build resiliency as a family. This position utilizes the High Fidelity Wraparound process as the model to inform practice.

Serve families with children through age 21 that have a serious emotional disturbance that is diagnosable under the DSM-IV. Population to be served will have one or more of the following: a mental health problem, a co-occurring mental health and substance abuse problem, contact with the social services system, juvenile justice or court system, require emergency services, or require long term community mental health and other supports.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

High school diploma and some college preferred. Must be the biological or adoptive parent or person in the parent role who has been the primary caregiver of a child with emotional, behavioral or mental health challenges is required. Must have experience navigating the Virginia behavioral health systems with their child. Bi-lingual (Spanish) speaking preferred. Participation in wraparound intervention or in family partnership meeting preferred. Must have the ability to articulate the experience and appropriate perspective of a parent/caregiver of a child with complex involving mental health needs and provide support to other families with similar challenges. Must be able to engage and collaborate with people from diverse backgrounds while maintaining a non-judgmental attitude towards families and professionals.